Monday, 31 December 2012

Three days were spent doing small boat
training at Kettering on the Derwent river near Bruny Island. This course is
mainly aimed at people with no boating experience to make them a competent
crew. As I have a coxswain license, most of the first two days was spent
sucking eggs but on the last day we learnt how to run out, position and anchor
the four kilometer fuel line we will be using to refuel both Casey and Mawson
stations in a couple of weeks’ time. This I found very interesting and good fun.
Having a coxswain license, I will be required to run mooring lines for the Aurora
Australis and to run out and maintain four hour watches on the refueling pipe
line keeping it in position, watching for any leaks and keeping ice burgess and
growlers away. Once the Aurora Australis sails away, we will be using our two
boats to go on evening ice burg cruises or burging as its known. It’s quite
common to see pods of killer whales cruising around Mawson also.

Highlights of the course were holding
(trying to) the 63cm fire hose, removing victims from fire & smoke filled
rooms using breathing apparatus, boiling
liquid gas fires and working as a team to fight fires and recover victims. The
course was very demanding and hot hard work but also very rewarding. Some of us
remained another day to do forensic investigation & management where we
learnt to identify and preserve burnt bodies and to investigate the cause of
fires. Both the instructors and facility were first class. Let’s hope we won’t
have to use these skills down south, but fire remains one of our biggest
threats in Antarctica.

Saturday, 8 December 2012

Lately I have been very busy out doors doing quad bike training and survival training. The quad bike training was a defensive driving course which covered all aspects of riding and handling the machine in all different conditions. This was mostly an introduction and assessment to obtain accreditation to ride a quad in the work place. Further quad bike training will take place on site in real Antarctic conditions.

New type of quad bike being trialed in Antarctica

Survival training consisted of survival techniques in adverse conditions and getting familiar with equipment. We practiced putting up various tents and setting up survival bivi bags. Training then moved on to search and rescue techniques and advanced rope rescue techniques for recovering casualties from crevasses. As I have applied for the position of Search & Rescue team leader I was placed under pressure to organize the rescue team and perform several recovery's.

For three days I was
sent to Melbourne for training at the Australian Radiation Protection
and Nuclear Safety Agency. This is the Commonwealth Governments nuclear testing
and safety agency and one of their tasks is to uphold the nuclear test ban
treaty by monitoring for nuclear explosions or radiation leaks by a variety of
methods including seismic, air sampling, hydro acoustic and infra-sound.

Air sample station at Mawson

At Mawson there are seismic and air sampling stations and one
of my duties each day will be to screen the air samples for radionuclide
particulates using a germanium high resolution gamma spectrometry detector. By
examining the gamma ray activity of particular radionuclides in a sample, it is
possible to determine what the material is, where it came from, where it was
processed and who was using it before it was released to the atmosphere.

Dual germanium high resolution gamma spectrometry detectors at Mawson

All sampling test results and material is sent to the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), an international
organization headquarted in Vienna, Austria.

Just imagine if I wake up bored one morning and decide to put
the smoke detector in the gamma spectrometry detector…….ha ha, bet that would
make a few people shit themselves and cause a fury of activity. As trained professionals
we don’t joke about these things.

Linear accelerator 3D imaging machine

On the last hour of training we got taken on a tour of the
facility and got to meet a real nice nutty professor who gave us a tour of his two
linear particle accelerators, both old and new. He was so passionate about his
work and his machines and wanted to explain how every part worked. It’s nice to
meet a genius using his powers for the good of mankind. If this bloke ever
flipped out he would be the ultimate doctor evil toiling away under six feet of
radiation shielding concrete deep down in the basement.

Linear particle accelerator

Another interesting thing we saw was the radio frequency test
chamber. We kept hassling them to show us some glowing green fuel rods but they
reckon they didn't have any.

Saturday, 1 December 2012

Bill asked me what are the boots like that I will be wearing in Antarctica?

As you know, when your feet are cold your whole body is cold. Also, if your feet are wet or sweaty it doesn't take long before you end up with crook feet. The AAD issue us with two types of high quality boots for outdoor Antarctic conditions. For summer we use Baffin boots manufactured in Canada and rated to -40 Celsius.

For winter we use the extreme Sorel glacier boots also manufactured in Canada which have a 13mm felt inner boot and 13mm double felt sole rated to -73 Celsius.

While on the ice, boots are fitted with chains for traction and crampons for ice climbing.

Extreme weather mitts are made by Grandoe in the USA and are the Annapurna mountaineering mitt.

Maintaining body warmth is done by layering cloths.

The bottom layer consists of long thick woolen socks and a pair of woolen thermal underwear. (Top & bottom)
The next layer is micro fleece pants and top.
The next layer is polar fleece pants and top.
Depending on the activity, the next layer is Carhartt quilted bib and brace coveralls and a matching Carhartt quilted jacket.
If you are doing field work in extreme conditions or if it is windy instead of the Carhartt you would wear a custom made Antarctic shell bib and brace and jacket. These layers are adjusted for comfort and temperature control and is supplemented with gloves, mitts, neck warmer, hats, balaclava, goggles and sunglasses.

Whilst on the ship, at all times expeditioners have to have their emergency pack at the ready. This contains a basic set of survival cloths should it be necessary to abandon ship. Expeditioners have to carry a similar emergency pack whilst flying on aircraft or traversing on land vehicles. As well as spare cloths in case you fall through the sea ice, these emergency packs also contain habitations and food.